Covering for walls and ceilings.



No. 777,334. PATENTED DEC. 13, 1904. K. G. DIETERIGH.

UOVERING PORYWALLS AND GEILINGS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 7, 1904.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 6 BY win:

ATTORNEY PATENTED DEC. 13, 1904.

K. G. DIETEBIGH.

COVERING FOR WALLS AND GEILINGS.

. APPLICATION PILED'MAE. 7, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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NESSES:

0; ATTORNEY UNITED STATES Patented December 13, 1904.

KARL Gr. DIETERICH,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

COVERING FOR WALLS AND CEILINGS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,334, dated December 13, 1904.

Applieation filed March '7, 1904. Serial No. 196,905. (No model.)

T0 at whont it may concern:

Be it known that 1, KARL G. DIETERICH, a subject of the German Emperor, residing at the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn,

-Kings county, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coverings for Walls and Ceilings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to means for covering walls and ceilings; and the same has for its object more particularly to provide a covering consisting of a number of units which may be brought together and secured in position to form a finished covering for walls and ceilings.

Further, said invention has for its object certain new features of construction whereby the units may be more readily and securely attached to their support to present a neat and finished appearance and to provide means whereby portions of said covering may be readily removed and replaced withoutinjury thereto when it becomes necessary to obtain access to the space intermediate the rear of the wall or ceiling covering and the support therefor.

To these ends my invention consists in the novel details of construction and in the com.- bination,connection, and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, wherein like numerals of reference indicate like parts, Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a portion of a wall with a covering thereon eonstrueted according to and embodying my said invention. Fig. 2 is a front View of the upper portion of a wall with its covering partly broken away and in section to disclose the attaching means therefor. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, illustrating a modified form of tile construction. Fig. 5

is a detail face view of a portion of the covering, showing a removable section and the means for securing the samein position. Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section of the same, taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a similar view taken on the line 7 7 of said Fig. 2.

In said drawings, 10 designates a wall proper, upon which are arranged at regular intervals the horizontal supports, each consisting of a guide-bar 11, having oppositelyprojeeting vertical flanges 12 13, united by a horizontal web 14: and a separate or independent flange member 15, one half of whose transverse thickness is equal to that of the projecting flanges 13 and the remaining half of its thickness double said thickness, as illustrated at Figs. 3, L, 6, and 7. The said guide-bars 11 are arranged in pairs, having the edges of their flanges 13 opposing each other, and said bars 11 are secured to the wall proper by means of screws 16 passing through the flanges 12 thereof.

17 denotes tiles or covering-sections, which may be made of wood, metal, glass, or any other material and provided at their upper and lower edges with grooves 18, one series or horizontal row of said tiles or sections 17 being adapted to receive the flanges 13 13 and the thin portions of the separate flange members 15, while the grooves in the edges of the tiles or sections immediately above and below said row are adapted to receive the thicker portions of said flange members 15, as illustrated in the drawings, the said tiles or sections 17 being adapted for insertion at the corners or edges of the walls and thence slid between the bars 11 to the desired point or place.

WVhen two walls meet and form a corner, as 19, (see Fi 1,) the said corner is provided with eorner-tiles 20, which are substantially the same in construction as the sections 17, eX-' cept that the same are quadrants or segments of a cylinder,and are provided at their vertical edges with grooves 21, registering with the vertical grooves 22 in the vertical opposing edges of the flat tiles or sections 17 contiguous to said curved sections 20, and thence locked to said contiguous sections 17 byseparate vertical flange members 23.

To enable me to complete the covering of a wall or ceiling without resorting to the use of cement, 1 provide the last or finishing tile or section with a locking device consisting of a spring having a straight base portion 24 and a flat bow-shaped upper portion 25, the portion 24 being adapted for insertion within and substantially fill the groove of the finishing tile or section, while its flat bow-shaped portion 25 is adapted to be sprung into the groove 01 the tile or section immediately above or below said finishing-tile, as the case may be. Should the finishing tile or section happen to be one of the curved or quadrant-shaped corner-sections 20, the same may be locked to the wall by the same means, except that the locking device would be inserted within one of the vertical grooves of the same and extend into the corresponding groove of the flat tile or section 17 adjoining the same.

When the wall-covering is composed entirely of flat sections 17 without ornamentation from floor to ceiling, I substitute for the uppermost and lowermost horizontal supports a U-shaped bar and arrange the same with its horizontal portion resting upon or against the floor or ceiling in order that the row of tiles 0r covering-sections held therein will contact at one edge with the floor or ceiling and produce a finished efl'ect. When a molding-as, for example, 26is employed, 1 sim ply arrange an ordinary angle-bar 27 above the uppermost horizontal support, as shown at Figs. 2, 3, and L, and provide the rear surface of the molding-sections adjacent to their upper edges with horizontal slots 28.

In the modification illustrated at Fig. 4: I provide the tile or covering sections 30 with two sets of grooves 31 32, the rear groove 31 being adapted to receive the flange 33 of the horizontal support 34., while the forward groove 32 is adapted to receive the independent or separate flange member 35, whereby the adjoining rows of tiles or covering-sections 30 are secured together. In this construction, owing to the provision of the extra groove 32, the separate flange member 35 may be of equal thickness throughout.

The operation and method of securing the covering-sections is obvious. However, it must be noted that when a section is to be removed from the finished wall the finishing tile or section must first be located and removed by inserting a thin flat instrument between its edge and that of the adjoining section and compressing the spring portion 25 into the groove of the finishing-section. Hereupon the remaining sections of the row may be shifted and access had to any tile in the row directly above or below the same, which may be thereupon removed without injury thereto by cutting out the portion of the guidebar 11 directly below the same, which may thereafter be again secured in position thereunder by a separate screw after the section has been replaced.

WVithout limiting myself to the details of construction, which may be varied within the scope of the invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of tile or covering sections with supporting means comprising rigid sections, and separable sections adapted for engagement with said tile or covering sections whereby to secure said tile or covering sections, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of tile or covering sections having engageable-means thereon with supporting means comprising rigid sections and separable sections adapted for engagement with the engageable means on said tile or covering sections,-whereby to secure said tile or covering sections in position, substantially as specified.

3. The combination of tile or covering sections having recesses therein with supportingbars comprising rigid sections, and a removable section arranged adjacent thereto, and

adapted for engagement with the recesses in said tile or covering sections, to secure said tile or covering sections,substantially as specified.

4. The combination of tile or covering sections having recesses therein with supportingbars, each comprising a rigid section provided with a flange, and a removable flangesection arranged thereupon and cooperating therewith to engage the recesses in said tile or covering sections whereby to secure said tile or covering sections, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of tile or covering sections with supporting-bars each comprising a rigid section having a lateral flange, and a separate flange-section, said lateral flange and a portion of the separate flange-section being adapted to engage the tile or covering sections of one series, and the remaining portion of said separate flange-section adapted to engage the tile or covering sections of the adjoining series, substantially as specified.

6. The combination of tile or covering sections with supporting-bars each comprising a rigid section having oppositely projecting flanges united by a web, and adapted for securement at one of said flanges to a rigid support, a separate flange-section disposed to project beyond the web of the supporting-bar in a direction opposite to the flange thereon, said rigid and separate flange-sections being adapted to engage and hold tile or covering sections at the meeting edges of two adjoining sections, substantially as specified.

7. The combination of tile or covering sections having recesses therein with supportingbars each comprising a rigid section having oppositely-projecting flanges united by a web and adapted for securement to a rigid support, a separate flange-section disposed upon said rigid section and projecting in opposite direction beyond the web of the supporting-bar, said rigid and separate flange-sections being adapted to engage the recesses in the tile or covering sections whereby to secure the same to a rigid support, substantially as specified.

8. The combination of tile or covering sections having recesses in the edges thereof with supporting-bars each comprising a rigid section having oppositely projecting flanges united by a web and adapted for securement to a rigid support, a separate flange-section adapted to cooperate therewith; the flange of the rigid section being adapted to engage the recess in one edge of each of said tile or covering sections and the separate flange-section the recess in the opposite edge thereof, whereby to secure said tile or covering sections to a rigid support, substantially as specified.

9. The combination of tile or covering sections having recesses therein with supportingbars each having a projecting flange, and a separate flange-section having a resilient portion, said flange of said supporting-bar and said separate flange-section being adapted to engage the recess in one tile or covering sec tion, and the resilient portion of said separate flange-section to engage the recess of the adjoining tile or covering section, substantially as specified.

10. The combination of tile or covering sections having recesses in their adjoining edges, with a securing device comprising a base por tion adapted to engage the recess in one of said tile or covering sections, and a resilient portion extending therefrom adapted to engage the recess of the adjoining tile or covering section whereby to lock said tile or covering sections together, substantially as specified.

11. In a Wall or ceiling covering the combination of amolding-section having a recess in its base, and a recess in its rear surface arranged at an angle to the recess in the base thereof, of supporting means comprising a bar, a flange member adapted to engage the recess in the base of said molding-section, and a bar having a flange adapted to engage the recess in the rear surface of said molding-section whereby to secure the same to a rigid support, substantially as specified.

12. In a wall-covering the combination of a supporting-bar with a separate flange-section, said separate flange-section being materially thicker in cross-section along one of its longitudinal edges than the other, substantially as specified.

Signed at the city of New York, in the county and State of New York, this 4th day of March, 190 i.

KARL G. DIETERICH.

W'itnesses:

F. SPENCER BERRY, C. AUeUsTUs Dnrrnmon. 

